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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
 
Location: My own little world :) | Ok all. I'm sure this has been asked before and I probably have asked this. But do you blanket your horses in the winter and why? I will be riding quite regularly either out in the weather and/or hauling to an indoor. My horses live in a fairly large grass pasture but do have a hay shed/barn they can get into to get out of the weather. And I live in Eastern Washington so winters get cold but not horrible and not very wet. Or would it be smarter to just use coolers or fleece blankets after riding to wick the moisture away and then just turn them out with their wooly winter coats? Thanks! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | I do, we are in south western Ontario. I will be training fairly heavily this winter so want to limit what winter coat I can. She has a rain sheet on right now. It is also for my own personal comfort! |
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 Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
 
Location: Oklahoma | I blanket my 2 riding horses just to keep their winter coats manageable. I'm in Oklahoma. My donkey and broodmares do not get blanketed. |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | I'm in North Dakota (Land of the -50 temps) and blanket through out winter because I ride through out winter and go outside to inside quite a bit. I also use coolers. Helps keep everyone happier and less sweaty and gross
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | wyoming barrel racer - 2015-10-01 4:05 PM
That's a pretty comprehensive flow chart! If my horse are kept out in the field with the herd, they have a shelter and a ton of hay so I don't bother with blankets. Others I have in runs with a shelter so typically do not blanket them either. Now if I keep them in the barn at night, which is heated and has lights on above the stalls till 11pm and turn them out in runs during the day, I definitely blanket them because they just don't grow the same coat. I like doing that with ones that I'm actually riding all winter because then I don't have to hand walk them for an hour after every ride. If they're a teensy bit damp still they won't get a chill in the stall. It's toasty. Last year I kept Cash in a run 24/7 and every time I tried to lead him out of the barn I had to drag him because he didn't want to leave! Of course it does get VERY cold here. It gets well into the negatives often. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1515
Location: Illinois | I keep a medium weight blanket on my 22 year old with cushings just to keep him more comfortable and to keep his coat manageable. He has half a winter coat all year and will grow nearly 3" long coat if not blanketed and then I have to shave it because it doesn't shed on its own. I give my barrel horse Dec-February completely off of any riding schedule and I just let him be a horse. I barely even touched him last winter except to look him over and keep an eye on his health. He's in a medium weight turnout because he is also weird and wont shed fully until the middle of June. I try to keep a minimal coat on him as he's black and looks awful when body clipped. He gets a full body sleazy under his blanket on the rare occasions its below zero or single digits. My weanling will most likely be left naked unless he doesn't grow adequate coat on his own. He doesn't come inside usually as I don't like to put babies in a stall unless its just too nasty outside. Even then he will most likely be loose in a section of the barn aisle when he does need brought in. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | We have weeks of 40 below because of the wind chill in Dec and Jan. Most of my horses are in pasture with no man made shelters. They do have deep draws and ravines to get in and the mares are on the creek so they can hide in the trees. But the only time I have ever felt sorry for them was when the Atlas Blizzard hit the area. We had been warmer than normal that fall, nothing had any winter hair yet, none at all. It started to drizzle that really cold rain all night and then the snow came. It was unreal. Like something out of a horror movie. WY didn't have near the livestock lost as SD though, not even close.
We just make sure they have plenty of feed to heat the gut. I do blanket my show horse to keep him from getting overly hairy and the old pony has his own blanket. Both of those get locked in the barn at night, but it's an old cow barn with a hay loft so not overly warm but it does keep the wind off...and in WY that is what matters. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Yes .. each horse has about 3 differant weights and coolers and sheets.. depending on weather.. of course this is what our horses are acclimated to. that makes a huge differance. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | When I lived in Eastern Washington and I planned on riding throughout the winter, I would blanket. I used a Big D magnum blanket which is a heavyweight and I also used a cooler when I was done riding. My horses were out in the elements with the shelter that they never used |
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 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | I blanket in winter but I own woolly mud mammoths and do not like scraping crud out of 2 inch long thick winter hair. I also hate cooling out because I never feel like i get them truly dry before I have to put them to bed.
That being said if its dry sunny weather even if its super cold I take their coats off during the day so they can get a break from the pressure around the wither area and soak up some sun and fluff up. I REALLY want one of those fancy weatherbeeta blankets with the wither channel and padding around the front strap area so they don't throat chop themselves when they eat but I don't want to spend 2-3 hundred on a blanket. I don't have that kind of savings unfortunately.
I haven't found blanketing makes alllllll that much difference in their coats unless I'm religious about blanketing as soon as it hits 50 degrees and lower. I usually wait until its a bit colder because I want them to have some kind of coat so I can let them be naked on nice days. Beyond that its in control of God and the daylight hours. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | redmansmyman11 - 2015-10-02 3:31 AM I blanket in winter but I own woolly mud mammoths and do not like scraping crud out of 2 inch long thick winter hair. I also hate cooling out because I never feel like i get them truly dry before I have to put them to bed. That being said if its dry sunny weather even if its super cold I take their coats off during the day so they can get a break from the pressure around the wither area and soak up some sun and fluff up. I REALLY want one of those fancy weatherbeeta blankets with the wither channel and padding around the front strap area so they don't throat chop themselves when they eat but I don't want to spend 2-3 hundred on a blanket. I don't have that kind of savings unfortunately. I haven't found blanketing makes alllllll that much difference in their coats unless I'm religious about blanketing as soon as it hits 50 degrees and lower. I usually wait until its a bit colder because I want them to have some kind of coat so I can let them be naked on nice days. Beyond that its in control of God and the daylight hours.
 Mods take notice!!
Edited by komet. 2015-10-02 4:07 AM
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Cat Collector
Posts: 1430
| it is COLD here in the winter, last year the coldest day was -48 with the wind chill. All of our horses have shelters with straw or shavings in them but as soon as it gets colder than -15 I blanket mine, although I do ride mine all winter long. |
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 The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | I live in Central WA. If you or someone else isn't home all day to change blankets, I wouldn't blanket. The temps can vary a LOT even in the winter. Might be super cold early in the morning, then a fair amount warmer in the afternoon. If there isn't someone to switch or remove blankets, your horse will get too hot. I don't blanket. Nature has them grow a "winter coat" for a reason! LOL Mine also dont' get long winter coats. Thick, yes, but they don't look like wooly mammoths!
Edited by RacingQH 2015-10-02 1:43 PM
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | redmansmyman11 - 2015-10-02 3:31 AM
I blanket in winter but I own woolly mud mammoths and do not like scraping crud out of 2 inch long thick winter hair. I also hate cooling out because I never feel like i get them truly dry before I have to put them to bed.
That being said if its dry sunny weather even if its super cold I take their coats off during the day so they can get a break from the pressure around the wither area and soak up some sun and fluff up. I REALLY want one of those fancy weatherbeeta blankets with the wither channel and padding around the front strap area so they don't throat chop themselves when they eat but I don't want to spend 2-3 hundred on a blanket. I don't have that kind of savings unfortunately.
I haven't found blanketing makes alllllll that much difference in their coats unless I'm religious about blanketing as soon as it hits 50 degrees and lower. I usually wait until its a bit colder because I want them to have some kind of coat so I can let them be naked on nice days. Beyond that its in control of God and the daylight hours.
Within the last week I swear mine have gotten furry!! I hope it's not cause they know what kind of winter is coming  |
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Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | RacingQH - 2015-10-02 12:39 PM
I live in Central WA. If you or someone else isn't home all day to change blankets, I wouldn't blanket. The temps can vary a LOT even in the winter. Might be super cold early in the morning, then a fair amount warmer in the afternoon. If there isn't someone to switch or remove blankets, your horse will get too hot. I don't blanket. Nature has them grow a "winter coat" for a reason! LOL Mine also dont' get long winter coats. Thick, yes, but they don't look like wooly mammoths!
most of mine grow a full on shag carpet if I let them, although I have one that stays pretty slicked off. |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | Northern Iowa here. I have never put blankets on. Mine are outside 24/7. They are on pasture and round bales 24/7 and also get fed a little grain about 3 # twice a day. They never get very woolly but I think body condition and nutrition play a big part on how much hair they grow. I think that the farther north you live the less you want to put blankets on your horses because the best thing for your horse is that winter hair coat. Food in the furnace and hair for keeping the heat in. We don't get much rain in the winter time up here. I think that the cold rain is the worst for them and the southern states get a lot more of that. |
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Location: U.S. | If I am hauling and running them in the winter Yes. If not then no. I always cool them out in a cooler regardless. |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | I never have. But last year we got what they were calling record cold temps here in NC with extreme wind chill so I borrowed a couple from a friend. I decided to go ahead and try and buy some to have on hand just for those extreme times. |
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Veteran
Posts: 180
| I'm from Oregon where it rains almost everyday for 9 months. Blankets are necessary if you don't want to spend hours cleaning mud off just to put a saddle on. Besides I like them short and slick. To each their own. |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | Winter, what winter. We had two days around freezing last year, that's it. (bragging, not complaining) LOL |
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 Expert
Posts: 1611
Location: bring on the heat, NV | Zanadoo88 - 2015-10-01 1:42 PM Ok all. I'm sure this has been asked before and I probably have asked this. But do you blanket your horses in the winter and why? I will be riding quite regularly either out in the weather and/or hauling to an indoor. My horses live in a fairly large grass pasture but do have a hay shed/barn they can get into to get out of the weather. And I live in Eastern Washington so winters get cold but not horrible and not very wet. Or would it be smarter to just use coolers or fleece blankets after riding to wick the moisture away and then just turn them out with their wooly winter coats? Thanks!
Some I do and some I dont. Our teenage grey mare yes she never grows hair like a quarter to half of what the other horses do and shivers bad and looses weight (wimpy genetics). She suffered for a few years and now she gets a blanket. I blanket per temp and weather factors. I pull all blankets during the day unless weather is bad. I dont use lights and I only blanket at 40 (grey mare) to (normal horses) 30* and below. I usually use a mid weight but have a heavy weight. I blanket my personal horses cause I think Im going to ride every winter but usually dont haha. Plus I feel better and it makes me go outside more. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12704
| Riding horses yes, when the weather demands it, or the mud. Non-riding horses rarely, except the harder keepers get a blankie around Christmas thru late February.
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | As mentioned if you not home to monitor horses who are blanketed rethink....whether people think it or not(and I've seen this) blanketing is a FULL TIME JOB!
We blanket horses that are getting ridden steady in the winter...im not looking forward to rotating blankets (each horse has at least 3) on 3 horses all winter but it's what works. The rest of our horses do not get blankets and we have a weanling to 26 yr old in our herd.
Edited by dream_chaser 2015-10-04 5:24 PM
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